


In the Woods

by Number_Twelve



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Action, Gen, Happens around the second season, Loads of horror, Mentions a few characters, Uh there might be some swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:36:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24325891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Number_Twelve/pseuds/Number_Twelve
Summary: A girl gets lost in the woods. When she gets back, she tells strange stories about an animal that tried to kill her. But she's young and no one believes her, thinking it was only her imagination.Well, it wasn't.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, Joyce Byers/Jim "Chief" Hopper, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Will Byers & Dustin Henderson & Lucas Sinclair & Mike Wheeler
Kudos: 3





	In the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> I began watching Stranger Things over a month ago. I might get a couple of names wrong (like the creatures who seem to keep on respawning in every. goddamn. season. Seriously, producers, you had to make everyone suffer?!).  
> WARNING: Might or might not contain spoilers of season 2. And please DO leave some feedback, since it's what keeps us writers on track to know what the audience thinks. Thanks for your time and enjoy :)  
> PS: I still haven't watched Season 3, so some things might not go according to that part of the sries. My apologies

It had been a Goddamn crazy six months for those who knew of the Demagorg incident. Things had quieted down ever after Eleven was able to close the gate, but it was far from over.  
That fact was unknown until Jim Hopper, Chief Policeman, got a case in which a young girl named Loretta Strange, aged 10, had gone missing during a camping trip for an entire night. When she had finally turned up, according to reports, she had been covered in cuts and bruises, her hair a wild mess and her clothes torn.

"She was shivering all over," her father told Hopper with a worried look, "looked very terrified as well. She kept on saying that she had seen something that looked like an alien and that it had chased her."

"And?" Hopper said. His expression was calm and composed, but his heart was hammering wildly in his chest. No. It couldn't be happening again.

"Well, our Loretta is a good climber. She says she was able to climb up to a tree and hide there. She said that the creature she spoke about looked for her but finally gave up. We had already been looking for her, so eventually we came across the tree she was hidden in. She didn't come down for the next ten minutes until we finally convinced her." The man said. "But I think that what she really saw was a rabid dog, not an alien thing." 

"How can you be sure about that?" the girl said quietly. All eyes turned on her. "I was there. It wasn't a dog, dad." 

"Can you describe it to me?" Hopper asked, leaning forward in his chair. The girl nodded.

"It did look kind of like a dog. It had the same size and strocture. But it didn't have any fur, and it was very thin. Its skin looked like... like a frog's, but it was black. It had terrying claws and a short tail." The girl shuddered, "But I think that the worst thing was it's face. No eyes. Just a big, flower-shaped mouth filled with tiny teeth. And it screeched. It sounded like this." the girl took a deep breath, but her fathe was quick to cut her off.

"I think that the sound can be left aside, Loretta." he said quickly. He looked back at the officer, who was scratching at his jaw with a thoughtful expression. "Well?" 

"We will look into it, sir." Hopper said. "Could I have your number?"

The man quickly scribbled his phone number on a paper along with his name. He and Loretta stood up to leave.

"And one more thing," Hopper said. "If anything like this happens again, please don't pause in calling me."

"You think that the creature is real?" the man asked with surprise. Hopper gave him an uncanny smile.

"I have seen stranger things." was all he said.

"You have to be kidding." Joyce groaned, looking up from the forms she had been filling.

"I think we both know that I am not." Hopper said.

"But it's been nearly half a year since the gate was closed. It can't be happening again." she said. The woman dragged a hand down her face with a tired sigh. "Will we ever be left in peace?" [Aw, sorry, Joyce :(]

"Well, hopefully it was only a dog and just a factor of the kid's imagination." Hopper said.

"You sound like you doubt it."

"I really do." With a sigh, he sank down on the chair opposite Joyce's. The woman pattind his gnarled hand. Both adults remained in silence for a short time, the cogs in their brains whirring with thought.

"I should get going." Hopper said. "I need to look further into this case." 

"Take it easy, okay?" Joyce said as he stood. He gave her a sad smile. Then he turned and left the shop, walking to his van and feeling rather defeated. He really thought that it was over.  
And he really had to tell Joyce that she had pretty eyes some day. 

Loretta's father was back at the station only a day later.

"Can I please se Officer Hopper?" the man asked. Minutes later, he was sitting in front of Hopper himself, watching as Hopper looked at the drawing that his daughter had drawn.

"Now she's also getting nightmares. I found it lying around in the kitchen. It looks weirdly similar to the thing she speaks about." the man said worriedly. Hopper's eyes didn't leave the sketch. It was well drawn and unconfortably similar to the things that had nearly killed them not long ago. Hopper could already feel his heart falling at the thought of having to face another case like that one once more. For the third time.

"I can't do anything about the nightmares, but I guess they will eventually pass on. As for the drawing, I will have to keep it for leads." Hopper told the man, who nodded.

"You can keep it. Just... figure out what's going on. I feel like what my daughter told us is feeling more realistic." he said. Later after he left, Hopper was left sitting at his desk, pondering over the haunting drawing.

"You mean... it's not over yet?" Dustin asked. Will looked pale.

"I heard my mother talking about it on the phone with Chief Hopper." the boy said, nodding.

"And I thought that we had had enough adventure to last a lifetime. I think it's pretty clear that Satan is watching us." Max grumbled, her arms crossed.

"Have you told Mike and Eleven yet?" Lucas asked Will. The boy shook his head.

"Not yet. I just heard of it. Lucky you three were free." Will said. 

"Well, we gotta figure out what's going on." Max said. 

"I think it's pretty clear already. Man eating creatures being back from the upside down." Dustin said.

"When you put it like that, it sounds rather gruesome." Lucas commented. There was a short silence.

"Anyone who thinks we should tell Eleven and Mike immediately say 'aye'." Lucas said.

"Aye." came four voices.

"You are not serious." Mike said, with disbelief infecting his voice.

"Sadly, I don't think so. Will said that he heard his mother speaking about it with Hopper on the phone." Lucas said as they walked side by side with their bikes.

"That's... shit. I really thought that was it." Mike said mournfuly.

"There could be a chance it's not." Lucas suggested. There was a short pause. 

"You don't think so, do you."

Lucas remained silent.

"Will... you don't look fine." Jonathan sat down by his younger brother's bed, looking at him with worry in his eyes.

"I am fine." Will said. Of course he wasn't. He felt as if his heart had been ripped aart and then fixed with duct tape.

"Will, have I ever told you that you are not the best liar? You can tell me. It might help you feel better." Jonathan said gently. Will looked at his brother's eyes and really saw that he meant it.

"I overheard Mom on the phone." he said in a quiet voice, pulling the bedshit higher up. "She was talking to Hopper. About... about the Demagorg dilema." 

Jonathan was quiet. The kind of quiet that comes before shock.

"You don't look like you're lying." the older Byer said.

"No. I'm not."

Hopper dropped down onto the couch with a tired sigh. It had been a long day. There had been at least three sightings. He had spent his entire day going to the sighting sites and looking around for any clues. He hadn't had any time to get a proper meal either.

"Jim?" he looked around and found Eleven- Jane, he reminded himself- standing at the door of her room.

"Yeah?" he asked, looking away. There wasn't an immediate reply to that as Jane walked over and sat next to him.

"You haven't prepared yourself any food." she pointed out.

"I am not hungry." Hopper said. His stomach protested my rumbling loud and clear. Jane's eyebrows went up.

"Riiiiiiight." she said. "I have a feeling that you are lying to me about that." 

"A feeling. You don't actually-"

"Mike already told me about it." that made him freeze. "Is that why you are like this?"

"That... That's police business." he mumbled. 

"Then why does Joyce Byer know about it?" 

"Jane, I am-"

"Everyone else knows about it. There's no point in fighting it." Hopper snorted.

"Since when did you begin to speak wisely?" he asked.

"Since when did you begin to ignore your own hunger?" in response, Hopper's stomach rumbled its agreement. Hopper sighed.

"Fine." he snapped down at it. "We eat and talk, then. Are you both happy?" 

Soon both of them sat at the small table, quietly eating a pair of sandwiches.

"Have you eaten at all today?" Jane asked as she watche Hopper hungrily wolf his down.

"I had breakfast." he mumbled, picking up his second piece. Jane sighed, shook her head, and pushed her own plate forward.

"I'm not hungry." she said before Hopper could intervene. "Now, are you going to tell me about it or what?"


End file.
